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Winterbottom claims V8 pole

Defending V8 Supercars champion Jamie Whincup faces another long day behind the wheel after his Holden again struggled in qualifying in Townsville on Sunday.

But Ford fans continued to rejoice after Mark Winterbottom claimed pole position for Sunday's 200km race.

Winterbottom clocked one minute, 13.61 seconds to top the timesheets after the 20-minute session ahead of Holden young gun Scott McLaughlin (1:13.76) and David Reynolds (1:13.90).

It was something else to celebrate for long suffering Ford fans after Winterbottom placed second behind teammate Will Davison in Saturday's opening 70-lap race.

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Ford snatched the quinella to mark just their third win of the season.

It was a timely shot in the arm for Blue Oval fans after Ford announced in May it would cease production in Australia and kill off the Falcon by October 2016, throwing the manufacturer's V8 future in serious doubt.

Series leader Whincup again struggled and will start 15th on the starting grid.

The four-time V8 champ had expected to extend his dominance in north Queensland after winning five of the previous eight races in Townsville before this weekend.

But Whincup had few answers after finishing seventh in Saturday's opening race after qualifying 16th.

"It's a similar story to yesterday," Whincup said.

"It just shows how critical set-up is. We get it right most of the time but it shows that you should never take it for granted."

Whincup's Holden teammate - and nearest championship rival - Craig Lowndes is fifth on the grid for race two while Saturday's race winner Davison is ninth.

In another worry, Whincup's team is under investigation for an unsafe pit release following the resumption from a late red flag caused by a spring that flew onto the circuit off Russell Ingall's Holden.